Annie LXI: Home is where...

(Chronological index: New World Order #9) (Takes up where 51 stops...)

Ray shut the door of the suite and turned to his wives. "Okay, that was the last of the blood lords, safe and sound and in the hands of his rather angry wife."

"I hope she puts a collar on him," Annie snarled.

"Now is that any way to talk?" Pet said.

"What?" Denise asked. "You're sticking up for a sylph torturing bastard?"

"No," Pet said. She took a running leap and landed on the sofa just as Ray sat down. "But he's gone. We're alone! With our husband!" Ray swept her up in his arms and brought her to his face for a kiss.

Soft thuds on the sofa seat cued him to the arrival of the rest of his wives. He gathered them up for more kissing.

The front door opened. All four glanced over to see Ruth coming in the doorway. She tossed her bath towel over a chair. "Pool's closed. Something about the heat-"

She froze when she saw Ray holding Annie so that he could tickle her belly with his tongue, Denise dangling from one thumb and Pet working her t-shirt over the other one to squeeze it to her chest.

"I, uh, was going to go lock myself in my room," she said, closing the door. "And write up my interview. With my headphones on. Really loud music." The door to her bedroom shut behind her. Ray leaned back and looked at Annie.

She nodded. "Yeah," she said. "Mood breaker."

"One down," he said softly. Denise nodded and slipped over to sit beside Annie in the cupped hands.

Pet kept the thumb against her breasts as she moved around to perch on the edge of his hand. From there she could look the others face to face. "What?" she asked. "I've been waiting DAYS for-."

Her sister wives smiled at her encouragingly. "Then go for it," Annie said. Pet sagged.

"Noooooo. I've been waiting for the four of us to...." She lifted the shirt to release Ray's thumb and spun into place beside Annie.

"I think," Ray said slowly, "that someone reserved the bathtub for tonight. The seven pm to midnight shift."

"That might work," Annie said. "Behind two closed doors."

"Three if Ruth shuts her," Denise added. Pet looked hopeful.

"Should we tell Ruth there's no whoopee smoochies now, though?" she asked.

Annie shook her head. "Kid's finally working on the assignment that brought her here. I say we leave her alone until lunch."

"Then can we talk?" Denise asked. Raymond scooted down in the sofa and set his wives on his chest. "Guys, I want to go home."

"You don't mean the Center, do you?" Pet asked.

"No," Denise said. "I want to go home. To my home. Maybe see my friends. Certainly see our family." She tapped a finger on one of Ray's ribs. "The gnome thing is a bigger concern for the government. I don't think I need to hide myself anymore."

"People will think you're a blood-lord," Annie pointed out.

"Oh, my sylphing date proves I'm not," she replied.

"And no one who knows you could believe that," Pet pointed out. Denise reached over to give her a hug.

"I have no objections," Ray said. He scanned the others. "We hid to protect her. If she doesn't think she needs it..?"

"Fine by me," Annie said.

"What about our jobs?" Pet asked.

"Good point," Denise said thoughtfully. "The refugees do rely on you."

"You wanna stay at the Center?" Annie asked Pet. The girl looked stricken.

"Alone?" she said softly.

"You're certainly capable," Annie assured her. Denise nodded. Pet looked surprised and gratified.

"What if...." Ray started to say. The three turned to stare at him. "Well, we have to go back to the Center to pack, anyway. But if we all go to DC, then Denise and I go to Jax for a while..."

"And Pet and I report for work for that while?" Annie nodded.

"Can Denise...?" Pet suddenly clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Can Denise," Denise finished, "travel alone through the security search?"

"You knew?"

"I figured it out." She reached over and kissed Pet on the cheek. "Thanks."

"Oh," Annie said suddenly. "We all have to go back to Jax."

"Why?"

"Family reunion. If Denise is not in the closet any more..."

"I don't know," Ray said. "Do you think you can judge a coloring contest?"

"That's MY schtick!" Annie said. "Get your other wife her own schtick!"

"I heard something about a clown act while I was out of town," Pet said.

"No, no, no, no, no," Denise said. She scooted backwards across the ribs. "No, I don't need to be out in front of anyone. Not now. I have nothing to wear!"

"Heh," Annie laughed. "Girl, let me tell you about most of my life as a nude fashion accessory."

A short distance away, Ruth heard laughter. She turned up her music.

-------------

They flew to Atlanta. From there, Ruth flew home to Jacksonville. Not that she was in a hurry to clean, straighten, restore, air out, decriminalize or scrub the Foster home. The Fosters assured her that they believed her. Then they waved goodbye as she boarded and went down the terminal to await their flight to DC.

A thought occurred to Ray. He whipped out his cell phone, set the carrier down and walked a few steps away.

In the crowded, noisy airport, the sylphs couldn't even identify the voice at the other end, much less hear that end of the conversation.

Ray said hello to his mother. Spoke a bit about everyone's health. Then asked a question that stopped three sylphs' breathing. "Hey, Mom? You think I...we...could invite Annie's family to the reunion? Ruth and her parents?"

He nodded, grunting an affirmative now and then. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah, I understand. Okay." He shook his head. "I'll explain it to them."

They talked a bit more about the political furor of the gnomes. He admitted to knowing more about it than CNN's speculation but begged off discussing it right away.

Then he sat next to the carrier and slumped in his seat.

Pet and Denise shouldered Annie forward. She walked along the top deck to put a hand on his upper arm. "It... It was a nice idea, Ray."

"Yeah," Pet agreed.

Denise added, "Uh-huh. Touching."

"Yes, very touching." She stroked his sleeve. "What, uh. What did she say?"

"Hmm? Oh, she just said it was about damned time. And Dad got a new putter. And she's started a new series of mystery-"

Annie's shriek shocked travelers in the vicinity. They turned to stare at the sight of a tiny little woman climbing up a man's arm to kick him in the throat. Two other sylphs cheered her on.

He appeared to be laughing.

"That only encourages them," someone muttered. That was about when the giggling started.

One state to the south, Mom hung up her phone. "Ray's coming to the reunion," she called out. "And he's bringing the Traces."

"About damned time," Dad replied.

---------

"I have an idea!" Pet said as they entered their sylph apartment at the Center. Annie and Denise froze at the doorway. Pet turned around.

"When we go to the reunion, we should all dress alike! Like uniforms! So everyone instantly recognizes that Denise belongs with US! And with Ray! You'll fit in! Everyone that sees Annie or Me or Annie and me, with you, they'll make the association."

The other two looked at each other. There was a slight relaxing of Annie's shoulders, a slight turn of Denise's smile.

"That's a really good idea, Pet," Denise said. "I'll... I'll feel more confident in the crowd."

Pet bounced on her feet for a second, then turned to look at Annie.

"Not the cowgirl costumes," that woman said. Pet opened her mouth to protest. Denise squeezed her hand in warning.

"What would you suggest, then?" Denise asked.

"What are you willing to wear?" Pet translated.

"Look, Pet, it's a good idea, but... Just not something that ditzy." She tapped her lip with a fingertip. "Ray has a Spiderman t-shirt," she finally said.

"Dibs on the Wasp!" Pet shouted. Denise smiled and raised an eyebrow at Annie.

"She Hulk for me, Black Widow for you? Blue shorts all around?" Annie offered. Heads nodded. "Now," she drawled. "Someone has to be the one to convince Ray to wear Spiderman. Who could be convincingly cute while begging-"

She stopped speaking as the connecting door slammed shut behind Pet.

"It's too bad you don't like her," Denise said, taking the older sylph into a hug.

"Stop it," Annie said, returning the embrace. "You'll make me feel guilty for indulging her."

The walls rumbled with Ray's reply. Pet's happy squeal carried easily through the walls.

------

"They put me in charge of contests for the reunion," Gwen said. She put the tray of drinks down on the table and sat next to May.

Ray found himself facing two moms across the table. His own mother was glaring at him and Annie's mom seemed sympathetic to her side. Whatever it was.

Annie sat in her momma's hand, blissfully silent. No help there. Denise and Pet sat on Annie's old sofa and accepted their drinks from Gwen. No glares but again, no help there.

"Why am I in trouble?" Ray asked.

"Because there was a reunion without Annie," Gwen explained. "So they put the burden on me. Find something as entertaining OR talk you into bringing Annie back."

"It wasn't a snub!" Ray protested. "We had serious concerns about Denise's safety and-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Mom said. "Never your fault, and Mom has to clean up after you."

"Men," Annie muttered. Every head Ray saw at the table nodded sagely.

"I'm seriously outnumbered here," he muttered.

"As it should be," Pet and Annie said together. May laughed at that. She extended a finger for two high fives.

"So, what's your idea, Gwen?" Denise asked.

"Well, if it doesn't put anyone at RISK, we need a coloring contest, of course." Annie replied with an OKAY gesture lifted high in the air. "And I'll let Annie choose the support staff."

"I'm always her support staff!" Pet protested.

"I choose Pet," Annie said immediately. The other sylph beamed. "Aaaaaaand... Ruth to help with the trophies."

"If I may," Ray suggested. "Your pop for the drawings and the camera work. May to help Pet with the trophies." May opened her mouth but nothing came out. She finally nodded.

"Perfect," Gwen said. She placed a hand on May's free hand and squeezed. Annie wrapped her arms around a thumb and hugged.

Gwen turned to Ray and the other sylphs. "So, there's still you two miscreants."

"Three," Annie said. "Ruth."

"Are these going to run at the same time?" May asked. Everyone shook their head.

"The 'make the kids sit down for a minute' contests are separated by 'run them until they collapse' contests," Annie explained. "But running them? It can take a lot out of you. Best to have independent groups."

May shook her head at her daughter's expert tone. Pet raised her hand. Gwen nodded at her.

"Cake decorating contest!" Pet shouted.

"Cupcakes?" Denise suggested.

"That would be easy enough to set up," Ray said. "Give each contestant an iced cupcake, set up a buffet of sprinkles and stars and colored sugars."

"Who judges?" May asked.

"Denise," Ray said. "Ruth as her trophy minion. Me as the big guy that wanders around saying 'don't eat the contest until after the judging.'"

"I'm not sure I can be as funny as Annie," Denise said after a moment.

"Well," that worthy offered, "no matter what, you're going to offer them cupcakes at the end. You'll certainly be as popular as me."

"So... I don't have to be funny? Or at least, it won't be a failure if I am not as funny as Annie, in Annie's style. I can be myself." She looked thoughtful.

May asked what she could bring, acquire or prepare. She and Gwen started making lists. Pet stood at the side of the paper and volunteered Ray for every other item. Denise thought about her contest.

Annie asked Ray to take her up to their old bedroom for something. Once they were alone she directed him to take a seat at his desk. She paced the blotter for a bit. He waited patiently.

"Are you... Ray, why did you volunteer both my parents?"

"To make them feel welcome, Annie."

Her eyes adopted squints for a moment. "You say that matter-of-factly, but you look... Well, I'm suspicious."

"Of what?" he asked.

"I'm... I'm really good at the contest," she said. "No esteem issues or swollen head. People come to hear me. I'm funny, I'm popular. I... You want to make sure my parents see what a cool person I turned into. What a cool person they cut out of their lives. You want to make them sorry for when they...." Her voice drifted to a stop.

Ray opened his hands and swept her up to his cheek. After a slow hug he lifted her to his gaze and wiped a tear off of her cheek.

"Your parents wouldn't miss your contest for the world, Annie. And they're going to be so, so very proud of you." He squeezed her gently around the shoulders. "I just want them to have something to do with their hands, so they don't just stand there staring and looking stupid at how awesome you are."

He hugged her to his cheek once more. "I stopped being mad at them a while ago, little girl."

"I'm older than you!" she barked. He laughed and squeezed her harder. They sat quietly for a few minutes. He stroked her back.

"Thanks," she finally said.

"Any time, Annie."

------

Gerald was very excited when he showed up at the Foster home. He had reams of line art for the coloring contest he wanted Annie's opinion on.

May followed along with a little bit more dignity. Which she dropped as Annie gave them a tour of the house. "Oh, isn't that the CUTEST little bed!"

"Cutest little bed," Denise muttered. "Cutest little carrier. Cutest little shower. Cutest little bathtub." She got up from where she sat on the window sill and started to pace.

Pet looked over from where she was watching Ray cook on the grill. "Denny? You're not happy for Annie?"

"Oh, of course I am, Pet," Denise said. "I'm just a little bitchy." Her visit with former coworkers had been awkward. They didn't know how to relate to her. And though she had experienced just that with Portion Control customers, she hadn't expected changes in her pre-sylphing relationships.

And though her friends had met Pet many times they had no reference points for talking to Denise now.

So May's inadvertent belittling of the sylph condition grated.

Pet stood and wrapped her arms around Denise's shoulders. "You can be bitchy," she said.

"It's allowed?" Denise replied. She instantly regretted her snappish tone.

"I mean," Pet said slowly, "that we all live with Annie. Be bitchy. We'll still love you." Denise closed her eyes and lay her head on her friend's shoulder. "Of course," Pet went on, "Annie will probably take it as a challenge."

Denise couldn't help laughing at that. Pet hid her smile by pressing her face in Denny's hair to kiss her scalp.

Annie brought the folks back downstairs. Gerald went out on the deck to watch the grilling.

May placed her daughter on the sill with the other sylphs. Ruth stood beside her and they watched the men.

"And we zee," Ruth whispered with a French accent, "zee male of zee nest eztablishez hiz domain wiz zee burning of zee food. Vill zee interlouper agzept zee chef's dominanze or vie for zee spatula?"

Ray looked up and nodded at Gerald. "Hey, watch the steaks while I grab us a couple of beers?"

"Sure," Gerald replied. He stepped forward to stand by the grill. The women turned from the window as Ray turned to the back door.

"So anyway," Ruth was saying as he crossed over to the fridge, "figure some trophies for symmetry, for harmonious asymmetry, monochrome, most eye catching..."

Ray grabbed two bottles and turned to go back outside. He paused at the door and took one step back. He winked at Ruth. "They are zee tongs, mon ami, nawt zee spatula."

Then he went outside to watch his father in law flip the steaks.

Pet started laughing at the look on Ruth's face. Soon everyone was, including Ruth.

---------

The coloring contest ended up using a picture of a young dragon at a birthday party, hitting a piñata shaped like a knight in armor. Gerald and May watched her dress down a teenager for his art work.

"Gunmetal? GUNMETAL? How dare you! Knights were knights in SHINING armor, not no-frills, serviceable! SHINY!" She stomped up and down the table, pointing to works as yet unjudged. "Look! Shiny! Shiny! Shiny! Glistening! Silver! Shiny! Shiny! You give us... dirty gray."

"Historically," he started to protest. She shrieked.

"It's. Got. A. DRAGON! Are DRAGON'S historical? Are they? Can you produce your references? Biology, history, archeology, anything to support the way you colored the BEAST? No? Then what the FRELL are you doing using 'historical' to defend your egregious error?"

Pet winked up at May and keyed her microphone. "Annie? Could you maybe explain the big word you used? I'm not sure what egregious means?"

"Flagrant," Annie replied. "Outrageously bad. Very offensive." She tapped her cheek. "Freaking wrong." There was pacing as she thought.

The children before the tiny stage held their breaths. "A...(she pretended to check the watch on her wrist)...two o'clock bedtime would be an egregious error on the babysitter's part."

The kids laughed. The teen slunk away. May noticed that his depression faded as he walked towards the buffet tent.

Gerald removed the teen's drawing. He wondered if the sacrificial judging was Annie's idea or someone else's. Of the Fosters he'd met, all could have come up with it.

May noticed him smiling and looked a question at him. He walked to her end of the table and whispered, "I think she fits in well with that family of hers."

"She really does," Pet said. Everyone turned to stare. "Oops," she said, turning off her mike.

"Okay," Annie said, bringing the attention back to her. "Who here would like to use a history book to defend their coloring?" No one answered. "Are you suuuuuuuuuuuure?"

-------

There were about three times as many cupcakes as there were contestants. That was about what they'd aimed for. At three cakes per kid, one was to be decorated, one was a spare in case of drama and the other...

"Okay," Denise said after everyone was seated. "My lovely assistant and my wonderful husband are passing out the cupcakes. You should be getting two. Is there anyone here that can't count to two?"

One girl raised her hand. Her mother hissed at her from the sideline. "It's okay, we always get one or two that misunderstand the question," Denise said. The fact that they'd never done this before hardly mattered.

"You're Emma, right? Emma, can you count how many cupcakes are in front of you?"

"Two..."

"That's right. Okay. I want you guys to look at one of your cupcakes. Look deep into the frosting. Imagine the perfect cupcake. Think about it. See it in your mind. Remember the decorations you saw on the front table. Memorize that. You got it? Anyone that doesn't got it?"

No one raised a hand.

"Okay, now look at the second cupcake. Deep into the icing. Imagine what it tastes like. Imagine the soft, moist cake. Imagine eating it. Go ahead."

Stunned and suspicious silence followed. "No, really," Denise said. "Eat it. Eat one of your cupcakes. It's okay. It's part of the plan. I don't want anyone too hungry to do their best at-"

"Honey?" Ray said from the back row. "You can stop explaining. They're all eating their cupcake."

"Okay, but ONLY ONE! The other's to be decorated!" After a moment, she saw the last kid take the last bite. "Alright, did everyone like their cupcake? Then I want you to look at Mrs. Trace over there. She brought the cupcakes. Everyone say, thank you Mrs. Trace."

---------

Pet and Annie were exhausted by the time Ruth slipped them into a pocket and followed her parents back to their car.

Denise had also been invited to an impromptu sleepover but had begged off because of a headache.

She dozed in the carrier while Ray helped clean the park. A large tub of what smelled like chicken wings slid into the back seat, then Ray was starting the car.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" he asked as he drove. He didn't bother with the headache story and she didn't make excuses.

She leaned on the roof and said, "Nothing. Just...alone time. And I didn't want Ruth or Pet to feel...."

"Okay," he said. He reached over and moved her to his shirt pocket. The right one, as Denise didn't like the constant drub of his heartbeat. Annie thought she was crazy. Pet swore she liked either pocket equally well. The other two always laughed and said she was probably right.

At home, she walked around the ground floor while Ray took some of the wings out to the wild sylphs out back.

She remembered all of the furniture, but it was also foreign. She hadn't spent enough time in the house to acclimate to the change before they'd whisked off to DC.

It was new then, but everything was new for those few days. Now she saw her cozy recliner as an upholstered warehouse. It'd take ten steps before her hips could touch both sides. And that was after the acrobatics necessary to reach it.

The woven ladder going up the stairs...she'd once delighted in making such things for Pet. Cute crafts for her cute little sylph.

Now she depended on them to get around. It wasn't as cute when it was utilitarian.

Ray returned, tossed the tub in the sink and reached down for her. Well, rope ladders were ONE of the things she depended on to get around.

-------

Ray woke around four AM and gently checked to see where his wife was. She stood on the side table beside the bed.

He rolled over and rested his head on his palms. "A penny for your thoughts?"

She ran across the table top to jump to the bed. A quick hop took her to the top of the pillow, right across from his face.

"Would it be...bitchy to change my mind? Again?"

"What's wrong?"

"Everything," she said. She dropped her butt to the pillow. "This isn't home." She paused. He waited patiently. She smiled. "Could you turn on a lamp? You're a wonderful person, but in the light from the alarm clock you look like a zombie."

"Brains," he hissed, reaching for her. She sat patiently. He turned on the light. "Not home?"

"I.. With the gnomes and the new sylphs and all that... I thought I could just come home and be Denise again."

He nodded. "But everything reminds you that you're a sylph now."

"Breathing reminds me I'm a sylph, Ray," she said. "I can hear my alveoli inflate. No, it's... Well, Pamela doesn't know how to deal with me."

"She can learn," he said. She shook her head.

"I can't regain that relationship. I can just forge a new one." She looked around the bedroom. "This isn’t the room my husband and I created for our love nest. It's a giant funhouse version. It's not... "

He picked her up and held her in cupped hands. She nuzzled his chin for a second, then remembered why he shaved three times a say.

She rose up a bit to rub her face against his lips. They parted and he kissed her. She nibbled lightly on the tip of his tongue. He sucked her face gently against his mouth.

Then she lowered her face and hugged his.

"Is this forging a new relationship?" he asked softly.

"No," she said. "But you were already sylph-friendly when I met you."

They sat that way for a long, comfortable stretch. "What do you want?" he asked.

"I want a place I belong," Denise said. She let go to rock back on her heels and gaze into his eyes. "I thought that was a home. But it's you. You, Pet, Annie... That's home.

"I guess having my job at the SC is better, homier, than trying to work the phone on Theodore's desk or sitting under the lamp on Pam's."

"Do you want to move to DC?"

"Are you giving up on your 'get sylphs restored' quest?" she fired back. "This WILL be home when I can take the stairs two at a time. Ruth or other college students you or I are related to can keep the house until we come back."

"Okay," he said. He glanced at the clock. "Hmmmmmmmm. It's too early to start the day, but I'm not really sleepy..."

"Shut up and turn off the light," she said. She slipped off her pajamas as he reached over her head.

"Braaaaaains."

"DOWN zombie! Bad zombie! Get- Silly zombie, those aren't my brains."



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